


The Failed Project

by newsiesgirllaces



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:11:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newsiesgirllaces/pseuds/newsiesgirllaces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The mission was to find the new weapon, Project Power, and destroy it. None of them expected to find a little girl instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Project Power

**Author's Note:**

> This was a story I wrote midway through the second season, so some things start to not match up with the show. Please enjoy!  
> ~Laces

Chpt.1  
She sat staring at the basketball that was in the center in the room. Her eyes started to hurt from staring at it for so long, but she didn’t want to blink.   
“Please… move. Please.” She whispered with desperation, but nothing happened. “I know y-you… can move. Please let me… let me move you. There has to be… something I can do.” She whispered hopelessly.   
There was a click, and the door to her room opened, and the girl slowly turned around to see Dr. Milo and two Cadmus guards.   
Dr. Milo was a lanky man with longer black greasy hair and sleep deprived eyes. He looked weak, but the girl was afraid of him. That was how he like it.  
“Good morning Project Power.” He nodded, and she flinched at the name. The little girl never wanted to be only known as a project, but that was the only name she had.  
“Good mo-morning, Dr. Milo.” She nodded, and slowly stood, and looked away from the basketball. She looked down at her feet, strands of curly black hair falling over her blue eye, but her green eye was still visible.   
“You know what today is, don’t you?” Milo inquired, and the girl nodded sadly. She couldn’t hold back her tears, and she started to cry softly.   
“Don’t cry.” Milo stated sharply, and the girl tried her best to recompose herself.   
“I-It’s just… I do… do not want…”  
“If I had more funding, then I’d keep you.” Milo sighed. “But majority of Cadmus thinks you’re a lost cause. You are a failed project. And you know what happens to failed projects.”  
“They… they get incinerated.” The girl nodded, trying to wipe her tears away.   
Dr. Milo placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder gently.   
“Don’t worry. We will make it as quick and painless as possible.” He gave her a small smile, and the girl smiled slightly back. That was one of the nicest things Dr. Milo had ever told the girl in her life.  
“Dr. Milo?”  
“Yes?”  
“Can I… bring Ralph with… with me to the incinerator room? So we… can be together one… last time?” she questioned with hope, and the man nodded.   
The little girl ran over to her bed and pulled out a rundown teddy bear.   
One of the guards gave it to her when she was a toddler.   
Milo held out his hand, and the little girl took it, following him to the incinerator room.   
She didn’t want to die. She was only roughly around seven maybe eight years old, and she hadn’t even seen the world yet.   
The man walked her into a cold white room.  
“You can either sit or stand. It’s up to you.” Milo informed and the girl nodded.   
“Good bye, Milo.” She whispered as he left the room. The door shut behind him and she sat, hugging Ralph tightly.   
I wish they let me see the sun. she thought sadly, and she heard the machine start to hum.   
The girl shook and cried, hugging Ralph as tight as she could, waiting for her impending doom. However, suddenly everything sounded like it shut down, and all the lights blacked out.  
She was left in complete darkness.   
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Nightwing along with a small team snuck into the facility after shutting down the power.   
“So what exactly are we looking for?” Robin questioned in a whisper, looking up at his elder.  
“Project Power.” Nightwing answered.  
“Which is what, exactly?” Superboy inquired.   
“According to our sources, a weapon. A very powerful weapon. We’re supposed to find it, and destroy it.” Nightwing explained.  
They came across a scientist working in the dark on a control panel of some sort, trying to bring it back online.   
“Where is project power?” Nightwing questioned, grabbing the man’s lab coat as Robin took down the security who thought they’d be able to take them.   
The scientists pointed a shaking finger towards the door in the room the control panel looked attached to.   
“Superboy…” Nightwing started, but the clone was already in front of the door, tearing the metal to the side with ease, and walking inside.   
Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, they widened in surprise.   
In the middle of the room sat a small girl. From what Superboy could tell, she looked to be between the ages of six and ten. He quickly turned on a small light he had on his belt.  
The girl had curly raven black hair. Her eyes were two different colors. Her right was green while her left was blue. Her skin was a darker shade, and her features looked like a mix of different races. She wore a white one piece suit and in her hands was a beaten up teddy bear.   
“A-am I dead? Are you an… an angel?”   
Superboy was speechless.   
“Are you here to… take me to… Heaven or Hell? I… I’d like to think that… I would… go to Heaven.” She frowned slightly. “But I failed. I’m going… to Hell… aren’t I?” there was fear in the girl’s voice, and Superboy snapped out of his stare.  
“No, you’re not dead.” He stated.   
“I… I’m not? But… Dr. Milo said I was going to… die today. I didn’t do… anything useful… so I was going to… to be incinerated.” She explained in a small voice, and Superboy’s eyebrows furrowed.   
“You’re not going to die today.” he stated and gently lifted the girl up. She was very light, and Superboy could feel her ribcage through her suit.  
The girl held onto her teddy bear tightly, but rested her head on Superboy’s chest.   
“Ralph, I’m not… not going to die today.” She informed in a hushed whisper to her bear. “Maybe we can… still see the sun… someday.”  
“Superboy, who’s the girl?” Nightwing questioned, still holding the scientist.   
“She was in the room where Project Powers was supposed to be.” Superboy informed.  
“The incinerator room?” Robin questioned, looking at the scientist with anger.   
“She’s a failed experiment. Nothing is illegal about killing what we create.” The scientist informed matter-of-factly.   
“Experiment?” Nightwing questioned.   
“She is Project Power.” The scientist stated calmly.   
“Project Power is a weapon.” Robin pointed out, but the man shook his head.   
“She is a weapon. Or at least she was supposed to be. However, she has failed.”  
“I’m… sorry, Dr. Milo.” The girl whispered with guilt. “I tried…”  
“But you still failed.” He growled, glaring at the girl, then looked back up at Nightwing.  
“She is a nobody, and is worthless. Let me destroy her. Isn’t that what this is all about? To destroy Project Powers?” Milo questioned.   
Superboy’s grip tightened slightly on the girl.  
“No.”   
“Project Power will be under the control of the Justice League from here on out. You don’t like it, have your boss talk to ours.” Nightwing stated, shoving the man to the ground. The three heroes quickly made their way out of the building, back to a jet compliments of Batman.  
“So we’re just taking her?” Robin questioned, looking to Nightwing.  
“I’ll inform Batman that Project Powers is not a thing, but a little girl. The league will know what to do with her.” Nightwing explained.   
“So… I’m really not… not going to die today?” the girl questioned in a low voice, but it was full of hope.  
“You are not dying today.” Nightwing smiled, ruffling her hair, and the girl hugged her teddy bear tightly.  
“Thank you.” She whispered small tears streaking her face as she hugged the bear even tighter.  
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”   
The team got outside, and the girl looked up at the sky.  
“Wow.” She whispered. “It’s so big… and the stars… and… it’s beautiful.”  
“You’ll see the sky again.” Superboy informed softly as the entered the jet, and she smiled happily.  
“I can’t wait.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chpt.2  
“That’s supposed to be a weapon of mass destruction.” Beast Boy questioned, looking at the girl in Superboy’s arms curiously. The girl fell asleep in the jet, her arms still clutching her teddy bear tightly, her head resting comfortably on Superboy’s chest.   
“She’s so cute!” Wonder Girl cooed, but Nightwing was quickly back into the room.   
“I called Batman. He should be here in about fifteen minutes.” Nightwing’s attention then went to the girl. “We should also wake her up. Batman’s going to have questions.”   
Superboy nodded, and shook the girl slightly.  
“Kid? Kid, wake up.” He said softly, and she slowly batted her eyes open.   
“It was not a… dream?” she whispered, but then smiled. “I was… not dreaming.” She sighed with relief. Superboy gently placed the girl on the ground, and she looked around.   
They were in Mt. Justice in the debriefing room, and the girl’s eyes wandered to the walls, examining the rock of the mountain, and then looked at each person in the room, who were staring intently at her.  
“Why is… everyone staring… at me?” she questioned in a small voice. The room was silent for a moment, nobody knowing exactly what to say.  
“Is it true Cadmus made you?” Beast Boy questioned, breaking the silence.   
“Gar!” Wonder Girl glared at the boy, hitting him upside the head.   
“What? It was just a question.” He said innocently.   
“I do not… understand why it… might be off-en... offensi.” She paused for a moment. “Offensive.” The girl informed calmly. “And, yes. Cadmus did… make me. They told me that I was… going to be the perfect weapon. But I… failed.” She looked down at her feet sadly.  
“What’s your name?” Wonder Girl inquired, kneeling in front of the girl.  
“I do not like it!” The girl exclaimed quickly. Everyone stared at her, shocked by her random outburst. “I never… liked it.” She said in a hushed tone. “I mean… it was always been Project Power.” She paused reviewing the sentence in her head. “It has always been project power.” She corrected. “I never had any… nick names or anything. Just… Project Power.” The girl had a pensive look for a moment, but then brightened slightly.   
“But… this is Ralph.” She informed with a smile, holding the bear up. She looked almost proud of the thing. “I named him… myself after Mr. Ralph… gave him to me.”  
“Who was Mr. Ralph?” Superboy questioned, raising an eyebrow.  
“He… was a guard at Cadmus.” The girl’s eyes seemed to haze out, thinking about the man. “He talked to me a lot and… would sometimes… sneak in books for me to read. He teach… taught me how to read too. He used to laugh because I… caught on quickly… I always catch onto things quickly… He was really nice, but… shortly after he gave me Ralph, he was… fired. I guess it was because they didn’t want me to be… distracted.” She said sadly, but tried to brighten again. “What are your names?”   
Before anyone could answer, an automatic voice rang out in Mt. Justice, announcing Batman’s presence, and he was quickly in the room.   
“Is this Project Power?” he questioned, looking down at the girl, who was looking back at him curiously, and Nightwing nodded.  
“Yes.”  
“Who are you?” the girl inquired, tilting her head to the side like a confused puppy.  
“My name is Batman, Project Power.” The girl winced slightly at her name, but then her eyes widened at what the man had called himself.  
“Batman? You are Batman?” she questioned with some excitement.   
“Yes.” He nodded, and she ran to him and was hugging his leg tightly, and the team looked at her confused.   
“You is… are one of my Dads!” she said happily. Everyone but Batman looked surprised.  
“Project Power, what do you mean by that?” the caped man questioned, and the girl released his leg and looked up at him.   
“Well… Cadmus said that I… was made from several… DNA strands. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Black Canary.” She explained as if she had the names memorized. “Apparently I… was supposed to have… brothers and… sisters too, but I was the only one who… lived. Apparently DNA strands are hard to… keep together… or stable… or something like that.” She looked like she was done talking, but was quick to open her mouth again.  
“No Ralph, he didn’t ask.” She muttered, looking at the bear. There seemed to be some fear in her voice.  
“Ask what?” Batman inquired, kneeling down to her level. His eyes locked onto hers and she looked away from him, shaking from the eye contact slightly.   
“It is nothing.” She whispered with fear.  
“It will be okay, you can tell us anything.” Batman stated in a gentler tone, and the girl took in a deep breath.  
“Ralph… wants me to talk about the… the tests Cadmus ran on me, but I… do not want to. Ralph thinks it… will help, but it won’t.” she looked down at the bear again. “It won’t, Ralph. It won’t… help. Talking never helps. Never. No… no matter what I… say can’t help me. No matter what I say… won’t change my… my failure.” The girl seemed to be talking more to herself than to anyone in the room.  
Batman placed a hand on her shoulder.   
“We’ll move into the discussion room, and you can talk about what they did to you, at your own pace. Ralph is right. It will help if you tell me what they did to you.” He informed softly, and the girl slowly nodded her head.  
“O-okay.” Batman turned to show her to the room, but held out his hand for her to grasp. She quickly grabbed it, as if holding the man’s hand would protect her, and followed him into the discussion room.  
Wonder Girl looked over at Nightwing.  
“Is it just me, or did she sound a little… I dunno, off?” she questioned once she was sure Batman and the girl were out of ear shot. Nightwing sighed.  
“She’s been treated as a weapon since birth, and I can’t imagine anything Cadmus doing to her being very pleasant. Going through that might make her a bit off.” He explained.   
“So, is she, y’know, dangerous?” Beast Boy inquired, and Nightwing shook his head.  
“I’ve dealt with dangerous insane people before. She doesn’t seem the type. The fact that she talks to the bear might just prove that she is so lonely, she feels like that bear is just another person. The only person who had actually been there through everything with her. Someone she could talk to because she had no one else.” Dick frowned the more he thought about it.  
“I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.” Beast Boy whispered. “What type of tests do you think Cadmus ran on her?”   
Superboy tensed up, but his eyes were where Batman and the girl had left.   
“You’re eavesdropping, aren’t you?” Nightwing questioned, and Superboy nodded mutely, still looking off where they had left, listening to what the girl was telling Batman.   
He then looked away.   
“I can’t listen to that anymore.” Superboy stated as he ran a hand through his black hair.   
“What has she gone through?” Nightwing questioned. Superboy quickly turned to Beast Boy.  
“Gar, you should go to bed.”  
“Awww, but…”  
“Now, Gar.” Superboy stated firmly, and the boy sighed, but left, heading off to his room. Once the younger boy was gone, and out of ear-shot, Superboy looked at Nightwing, and Wonder Girl.   
“It sounds like torture. Some of things they did to her and made her do... it’s just wrong.” He said in a hushed voice. “She said that to see if she could breathe underwater, like Aquaman, they’d throw her in the water, and not let her resurface until she either succeeded, or passed out. She said that she never learned to breath, let alone swim, under water.”  
Wonder Girl’s eyes widened, and Dick’s mouth gaped slightly in shock.  
“Cadmus shouldn’t be able to do that. Sure they created her, but… I mean…” Wonder Girl didn’t know what else to say.  
“It’s wrong.” Dick nodded. “We were lucky to get her out when we did. Conner, what else did they do to her?”   
“To try to trigger Martian Manhunter’s telepathic ability… they stuck needles in her head, trying to trigger something, but they never succeed. They would also shoot her arm with a gun to see if she was impervious, and that’s when I stopped listening.”  
Before anyone could say anything else, Batman walked back into the room with the girl grasping his hand.   
“Superboy, take her to the guest room, and lend her something more comfortable to wear. She’ll be staying with us for a while.” Batman stated, and Superboy nodded, extending his hand for the girl to take, which she quickly did, and he led the girl to the room.   
“What are you going to do?” Nightwing questioned, looking at Batman with a raised eyebrow. This mission had a result that was much different compared to others.   
“I took some blood samples to verify what she is telling us, but if there is any truth to it, the Justice League will determine what to do.” he stated firmly.   
“What about Cadmus?” Nightwing inquired.   
“Unfortunately, since she is one of their projects, Cadmus isn’t doing anything illegal, so we can’t make any action against them.” Batman explained in a disappointed tone, and Nightwing nodded.   
“How intact is her sanity?” he questioned in a whisper, and Batman gave him a solemn look.  
“It’s difficult to say.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chpt.3  
Superboy wished he had some smaller cloths. All he had for the girl was an old T-shirt that shrunk in the wash and some mesh shorts.   
He handed them to the girl and showed her to the guest room.   
“Does this… go on my… head?” she inquired, looking at the mesh shorts, and then at Superboy.  
“Uh, no. They’re pants. They go on your legs and butt.” He informed, then pointed to his own pants. “Like these.”  
“Ohhh.” The girl nodded, then held up the shirt. “So, this goes on my… torso… right?” Superboy wanted to smile, but he couldn’t help but think about what the girl had said about her treatment at Cadmus earlier. She probably always wore that zipper up one piece suit every day of her life.   
“Yes, that goes over your torso.” He confirmed. “I’m going to leave so you can change in privacy, but I’ll be right outside the door, so tell me when you are done getting changed, okay?” he questioned, and the girl smiled.  
“Okay.”   
Conner waited outside of the girl’s door patiently, until he heard a small voice question,  
“Is this right?”  
Conner opened the door, and saw the girl had on the shorts at her ankles and had on the large shirt backwards. The shirt was so large on her it stopped about an inch past her knees, despite the fact it was the smallest shirt Conner owned.  
“A little bit.” Conner chuckled as he walked up to the girl and knelt in front of her. He pulled the pants up to her hips and tied the drawl string tighter so that they would stay up.   
“Here, put your arms back in through the sleeves.” He informed and she followed his direction. Once her arms were out of the sleeves, Superboy turned the shirt around so that it was facing the right way.  
“Alright, you can put your hands back through the sleeves now.” He informed with a small smile, and she did so. “There. You look great.” He informed, and the girl looked at herself in the mirror.   
Superboy’s eyes widened when he noticed all of the scarring the girl had, since the suit covered all of her skin except her face. Scars ran up her arms, and what he could see of her legs. It made him want to go to Cadmus and kill them all.  
“This… outfit is much more… comfortable than my suit.” She informed, and Superboy snapped out of his thoughts, and picked up the suit, looking at it curiously.   
The material was tight, and sturdy. It didn’t look very breathable, and Superboy could also make out some blood stains.   
“You don’t need to wear anything like this suit anymore.” Superboy informed, and the girl smiled.  
“Thank you.” She then looked at the boy curiously. “Why… are you so… nice?” Superboy didn’t know how to answer the question.  
“I guess that’s just who I am.” He shrugged, and the girl nodded.   
“What… is your name? I hear people say it… but I find it… strange. Superboy… right? Is that a… a nick name?”  
“Somewhat of a nick name.” he shrugged. “It’s like a name I have when I work. However, when I’m not working, people call me Conner.” He explained.  
“Are you working now?” the little girl inquired.   
“No.” Conner answered with a short shrug, and the girl smiled.  
“Then thank you… for everything, Conner.” She said, and was quickly hugging his leg. Conner wasn’t expecting the small hug, but he accepted it.  
“No problem, kid.” He said in a small voice as he patted her back. Once the girl parted from his leg, he looked over at the clock in her room. It was way past midnight.  
“You should go to bed. It’s late.” He stated as he lifted the girl up and placed her in the bed, tucking her in underneath the covers.  
“Hey… Conner?” she inquired while in the middle of a yawn.  
“Yeah?”  
“Since you have two… names… do you think I could too… like… you’re Superboy and Conner… do you think I can… could be Project Power and… something else?” she questioned. Conner smiled at her.  
“I’m sure of it. But remember that a name doesn’t make who you are. You decide that.” He informed, and the girl nodded, and rested her head on the pillow.  
“Good night, kid.” He smiled.  
“Good night, Conner.” She whispered, and her eyes were closed as she drifted to sleep quickly. The bed was the most comfortable thing she had ever slept on. She did have a cot, but it wasn’t nearly as warm and comfortable as the bed was.  
Conner closed the door softly, not wanting to make any sound, but when he turned around, he was startled to see Nightwing right there.  
“How is she?” the young man inquired with some concern on his face.   
“She’s alright. Sleeping right now, actually.” Conner nodded, looking back at the door, and listening to the sleeping breath, and steady heartbeat of the girl, making sure she was still okay.  
“Is that her suit?” Nightwing questioned, looking at the fabric in Conner’s hands, and the clone nodded, handing it to him.  
“Yeah. Doesn’t look comfortable, not to mention that it has blood stains on it.” He informed, and Nightwing sighed, spotting a blood stain.   
“I knew Cadmus was bad, but this… I just find it impossible how people could just be okay with practically torturing a little girl. It’s just messed up.” The first Robin stated with a hint of frustration in his voice, but he took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.  
“Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Batman got the results of the blood test back, and what she said was true. She really is biologically the daughter of several major league members.” Nightwing explained. Conner raised an eyebrow.  
“What’s Batman going to do now?” the clone questioned.  
“He can’t do much to take any legal action on Cadmus, but as for the girl, the league wants to see her and figure out exactly what to do with her. The league’s been busy lately, however, Wonder Woman and Black Canary will be coming over tomorrow to talk to her.” Nightwing explained.  
“Alright.” The clone nodded. “But afterwards, I want to take her outside. It’s supposed to be nice out, and she’s never seen the sun before.” Conner informed, glancing back to the door of the girl’s room. He thought he heard something.   
“Alright, but keep an eye on her. We don’t know if her mental state is all that good. I mean, going through what she has must of messed her up, but we don’t know how far to an extent.”  
Conner raised an eyebrow.  
“So, you’re saying you think she’s crazy.” Nightwing sighed, running his hands through his hair.   
“She might be. I just want you to make sure you keep an eye on her. Despite her failed project label she is still considered a weapon of mass destruction, and a mentally unstable weapon of mass destruction isn’t necessarily a good thing.” Nightwing informed, and Conner glared at him.  
“She’s not just a weapon.” Conner stated firmly, and Nightwing quickly placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.  
“Settle down, Conner. I know she’s not, but I still can’t take things lightly due to the situation. I just want you to keep an eye on her when she’s outside. That’s it. And besides, if someone from Cadmus tries to take her, you’ll be right there.” Nightwing smiled, and Conner nodded.  
“Alright, I’ll stay close to her while we’re out.” Conner nodded. Nightwing grinned at his friend.  
“Okay, Conner. See you tomorrow.” He gave a short wave, and was gone.   
Conner looked back toward the door, and instead of a steady breath and heartbeat, both were erratic.   
He swiftly opened the door and peered in, seeing the young girl curled up in a ball, holding her bear tightly. There were tears streaking her face.  
“I can’t.” she whispered. “I’m sorry.” She shuttered and then said louder, “I can’t.” she contorted her face into a pained expression. “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”   
Conner sat next to her on the side of her bed, and laid a hand gently on her head, lightly stroking her hair, trying to calm her down.  
“I can’t!” she exclaimed, waking herself up.   
She was breathing heavily, and she looked around the room, confused and speechless.   
“You okay?” Conner questioned gently, when her eyes wandered to his. She shook and hugged his torso quickly, crying into his shirt.   
“Shhh… you’re okay.” He whispered. “You’re safe.”   
“I can’t.” she said through a heavy sob. “I failed.”   
“You didn’t fail.” Conner whispered, patting her back. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” He listened as she continued to cry, patting her back, trying to sooth her, until she finally looked up at him.   
“Can you… stay? You don’t have to… if you want… but… I don’t want to be… alone.” She explained, tears continuing to streak her face. “I know that sounds… selfish… but…”  
“I’ll stay here.” He said quickly, and the girl looked up at him. There was hope in her eyes, but also doubt. She didn’t want to get lied to.  
“Really?” she questioned timidly.   
Conner propped his feet up on the bed, and then smiled at her.   
“Yes.” He helped re-tuck her into bed, and then laid next to her, comfortably. She was asleep in less than a minute.  
Conner couldn’t help but feel like he needed to be there for the girl. She was a lab experiment like him and also shared some of Superman’s DNA. In a weird way, that made her his sister, or something like that. She was family and Conner knew what it felt like to be shunned by someone who you considered family.  
So he was determined to make the little girl happy, and keep her safe.   
“Conner?” he looked over to see that she was awake again.  
“Yeah, kid?” he questioned, hoping that the girl would be able to go back to sleep soon.  
“Are you… related to Superman?” she inquired, and he shrugged.  
“A bit, but I have a question for you.” He stated, looking at the girl, and she looked back at him, cocking her head to the side.   
“Why do you pause like you’re thinking between some words? You don’t need to worry about what you say around here.” Conner explained, and the girl shook her head.  
“I pause because I am… searching for words. The first scientists who helped with my… development talked Japanese. Then there was a German scientist, then Milo. English is a… difficult language. I am much better at… understanding languages more so than speaking them.”  
“So you have difficulty with the English language?” Conner questioned, and the girl nodded.  
“Yes. So many rules… I mean… there are so many rules. Grammar is also… difficult.”   
Conner smiled a bit and gave her a small hug.   
“It’ll be alright. Some of the league know tons of languages. If you ever don’t know a word, you can speak to them and I’m sure one of them will know what you’re saying.” He informed and the girl grinned at the thought.  
“Thank you.” She whispered.  
“No problem kid. Now, we better go to bed. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” Conner said, but the girl was asleep before he was half way done his sentence.  
He looked at the girl with some concern. Could she really be that crazy?


	4. Chapter 4

Chpt.4   
Conner woke up and was slightly confused why he wasn’t in his room, but then remembered the events of the night before.   
“Hey, Kid…” Conner tried to nudge the girl awake. “Kid?”  
“Hmmm? Conner?” she questioned in a quiet mumble.   
“Good morning.” He smiled, then got to his feet. “You should get up. M’gann should be making breakfast about now.” He informed, looking over at the clock. It was about 9:30.   
“Who is M’gann?” the girl inquired as she scooted off the bed.   
“She’s a member of the team.” Conner informed shortly. He didn’t enjoy talking about his ex-girlfriend too much.   
Conner smoothed out his hair, and then chuckled a bit at the girl’s hair. It was sticking out every which way into a black knotted mess. He helped the girl untangle and smooth her own hair out, then walked downstairs, the girl following close behind like a shadow.   
Once they reached the kitchen, Conner laid his eyes on Gar, M’gann, and La’gaan. Gar was eating the pancakes that M’gann had made, reading a book while M’gann and La’gaan were… kissing. Conner hated it when they would kiss in public, especially with him in the room.   
He was happy that he wasn’t the one who interrupted them.  
“Is that… painful?” the girl inquired, looking at them with an expression of concern and curiosity.   
“Who are you?” La’gaan questioned, quickly ending the make out session, and M’gann placed a gentle hand on her boyfriend, knowing he was slightly upset for the girl assuming he was causing his “angel fish” pain.   
“You’re Project Power, aren’t you? Dick told me what happened last night.” She informed gently, and Gar looked up from his book.  
“Good morning.” He smiled with a small wave.   
“Good morning to you well.” She paused. “As well.” The girl corrected herself, but quickly turned her attention back to M’gann and La’gaan.  
“So it wasn’t painful? You were… biting her lip.” She stated with confusion, looking at La’gaan.   
“We were kissing, Project Power.” M’gann explained gently, and the girl winced.   
“Hey sis.” Gar stated from the seat. “Ex nay on the ojectpray owerpay.” He said in pig-Latin, only earning a confused look.   
“She doesn’t like the name.” Conner spoke up. M’gann frowned,  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”  
“It’s alright. I… simply don’t want to be known as a project.” She informed with a shrug, then said lightly, “You’re skin is very pretty. It’s my… favorite color.”   
M’gann smiled kindly at the girl.  
“Would you like some pancakes?” she inquired, grabbing a plate for the girl.   
“I never had pancakes before.” The girl informed in a quiet voice, and M’gann quickly placed the pancakes on the plate.   
“You should love them.” She grinned as she started to cut the food while using her telekinesis to pour syrup simultaneously.  
The girl’s eyes fixated on the floating food.   
“How… can you do that?” she questioned, tilting her head to the side, and M’gann shrugged as she handed the plate over to the girl.  
“I don’t know. I have always been able to do it.” M’gann informed, and the raven-haired girl nodded with a pensive look on her face, but then brightened again.   
“Thank you for the food.” She said with a smile, then sat down at the table across from Gar.   
The boy watched as she practically inhaled the food after the first bite. He wasn’t the only one who watched. Everyone in the room watched as she ate like she was starving. She quickly was finished and gulped down her milk.   
“That was the most best food I ever taste!” she exclaimed with excitement, smiling ear to ear. However, her smile vanished when she noticed everyone staring at her. “I mean…” she thought over her sentence. “That was the… best food… I have ever… tasted.” She smiled sheepishly at the group. “Thank you.” She added quietly.   
“I’m glad you liked it.” M’gann smiled. “You should get dressed. Black Canary and Wonder Woman should be arriving anytime now.” M’gann handed the girl a box from the kitchen counter.   
“Nightwing dropped it off for you.” La’gaan informed the girl, and she looked inside.  
“What is it?” the girl inquired, looking at the blue piece of fabric curiously.   
“It’s a dress, kid.” Conner informed, and this seemed to confuse the girl even more.  
“I thought dresses… were worn for… fancy parties. At least that’s what I… read about them.” She said, still looking at the dress.   
“Not all dresses are for fancy occasions.” M’gann informed. “This is a sun dress. It’s just a casual thing to wear.” She explained.  
“Oh.” The girl nodded, then looked at M’gann. “How do you… put it on?”   
“By Neptune’s beard, shouldn’t it be obvious?” La’gaan questioned in an aggravated voice, and the girl looked down at her feet, ashamed.   
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, but M’gann placed a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder.  
“It’s alright. Here, I’ll show you how.” M’gann shot a look at La’gaan, then led the girl up to her room.   
Conner couldn’t hide the small grin on his face when La’gaan walked out of the room, and flopped onto the couch.   
Conner didn’t like La’gaan all that much, so seeing M’gann give him a reprimanding look made him want to laugh.   
The computer voice sounded, alerting the presence of Black Canary and Wonder Woman. Conner quickly made his way to great him, but suddenly found himself nervous for the girl. What if they didn’t like that she had some of their DNA? What if their reactions were similar to Superman’s?  
“Hello Conner.” Black Canary smiled, snapping the clone out of his thoughts.   
“Hello. The girl will be down soon. M’gann is just helping her out with something.” Conner informed, and both women nodded.   
“Is there anything we should know before talking to her?” Wonder Woman inquired. Conner paused a moment to think.  
“She doesn’t like to be referred to as Project Power because she doesn’t want to be known as a project. I’ve just been calling her kid. And she’s still getting used to the English language, so she pauses a lot when talking to make sure she’s saying her words right.”   
“Thank you, Conner.” Black Canary said with a small smile, but then looked over at the sound of small footsteps.   
The small girl walked into the room wearing the blue dress. The dress was either slightly too long or slightly too short due to the fact that it stopped at her ankles, and her feet were bare.   
“M’gann said that I would… find everyone here.” She informed as she slowly walked up to Conner and the two women.   
“Conner, can you let us gals have some privacy?” Black Canary questioned, and the clone nodded.  
“I’ll see you later, kid.” He said, giving the girl an encouraging smile. The girl watched as Conner walked away. She wanted to grab his hand and say, “Don’t go.” He made her feel safe after years on feeling like at any moment she would be harmed. She wanted to just stay with him and hide, but she didn’t want to do something that would end up making her get in trouble. Getting in trouble meant pain, and she never wanted more pain than she usually got.  
The girl looked up at the tall women.  
“Hello.” She said sheepishly.   
“Hello young one.” Wonder Woman informed. There was a pause between the three. Wonder Woman and Black Canary had come to talk to the girl because, to be technical, they were her mothers. But neither exactly knew what to talk about.   
“I have your eye shape.” The little girl said quietly, looking at Black Canary. The woman looked at the girl and nodded. She did.   
“And I have your hair color.” She said, looking at Wonder Woman.  
“That you do, little one.” the woman smiled, and got down on one knee to look the girl in the eye. “Aphrodite granted you beauty.” The girl cocked her head to the side.   
“Who is Aphrodite?”   
“The Goddess of love, and beauty.” Wonder Woman informed, and the girl started to smile, but then frowned.  
“You are ugly! Look at you!” Milo exclaimed, holding the gun in his hand. “Do you want to be even more ugly? Do you!?” the small girl was quiet and Milo grabbed the girl’s arm. “Look at your arm! See these scars!?” the girl looked at the scars that decorated her arm. “These are what make you ugly! Do what I say, and you won’t get any uglier! Understood!?!”   
“I… no… I do not… m-my scars make me… ugly?”   
“Yes you idiot! So you better deflect the bullet or you’ll continue to look ugly!” Milo shouted, then aimed the gun at her arm.   
After that the girl had another scar to add to her collection.   
“I have to… apologize to Aph-ro-dite then.” She sighed, slowing down to make sure to pronounce the Goddess’ name correctly. “If she… gave me beauty, then I have… ruined it.” She looked down at her scars sadly.  
“Dr. Milo said that if I didn’t… cooperate, he’d keep giving me scars. He said scars make people… hideous. He said that… I’d have so many scars I’d be the… most hideous girl on the planet.” She informed.   
“Scars don’t make you ugly.” Black Canary stated firmly, rolling up her sleeve showing the girl her own scars. “Scars are trophies. They show what you have gone through and are proof that you could take what was dealt to you.”  
“I never... thought of it like that.” The girl mumbled, but then brightened. “So my scars… they do not make me hideous.” She smiled with some confidence.   
“Of course not Project…” Black Canary quickly stopped herself, but the first word was already out. The girl frowned a bit, but sighed,  
“Project Power.” She smiled slightly, but the smile looked painful. “That is my name.”  
“Then maybe it is time for a new name.” Wonder Woman stated. “Black Canary, and I are technically your mothers. As mothers, we have every right to name our daughter.” The girl looked at Wonder Woman wide eyed.   
“You two are… going to… give me a name?” she questioned, making sure she didn’t hear wrong.   
“Of course.” Black Canary smiled, then turned to whisper something in Wonder Woman’s ear. The two went back and forth whispering for about a minute, until they looked over at the girl, who was looking at them confused.   
“Athena.” Wonder Woman smiled.   
“Athena Laurel Prince.” Black Canary added, telling the girl her full name.  
“Athena Laurel Prince.” The girl, Athena, repeated. She liked how the name felt in her mouth, and she liked how it sounded.   
Athena grinned, repeating her new name, then hugged both of the women.   
“THANK YOU!” she exclaimed happily. “Thank you so many for give my name!” she smiled happily, but paused, reviewing the sentence in her head. She was too excited and didn’t think right.  
“Thank you so… much for… giving me my name.” she said, fixing the sentence, then smiled brightly again.  
She couldn’t help herself from saying it again.  
“Athena Laurel Prince.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chpt.5  
Conner had paced back and forth in the kitchen, nervous of what was going on in the other room. They had been in there for over an hour. He was tempted to listen in, but he didn’t want to be rude, or hear any other horrific things from when the girl was at Cadmus.  
“Why are you so nervous?” Gar questioned, and Conner sighed.  
“I’m just worried how they’ll treat her. When Superman found out about me, well, he wasn’t exactly thrilled.” Gar shook his head.  
“We’re talking about Black Canary, and Wonder Woman. I can’t see them being mean too her.” The younger boy informed.  
“Well, when you think of Superman, do you think he’s a mean guy?” Gar frowned at that.  
“No.”  
“Exactly.” Conner sighed, slouching his shoulders, but then perked up when he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.  
“We’ll visit again soon, Athena.” Wonder Woman smiled.  
“Hopefully next time we can bring the entire league with us.” Added Black Canary as she bent down to hug the girl.   
Conner felt an enormous wave of relief. They were treating her like an actual human being instead of some unnatural lab experiment.   
The women walked into the transporter, and were beamed back up to the watch tower.   
“How’d it go?” Conner inquired, looking over at the girl. She smiled brightly and ran up to him.  
“Great!” She hugged him tightly. “They… gave me a name!” she informed with excitement. “Athena.” She hugged Conner even tighter. “Athena Laurel Prince.”   
“Athena.” Conner smiled. The name seemed to fit the girl.  
“Isn’t Athena the name of a Goddess or something?” Gar inquired. “Like… the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, and law and Justice?”  
“No surprise that Wonder Woman wanted to name her that then.” Conner smiled, then turned back to look at the girl.   
“Athena, do you want to go outside?” he questioned, and her eyes widened and she jumped up and down in excitement.   
“Can we?” she squeaked with hope, making Conner chuckle, and he started to walk towards the exit.  
“Of course.” He answered, and Athena was quickly at his side, along with Gar, who could use some time outside.   
“Wait.” Athena paused, then sprinted up to her room. Conner waited patiently as she ran back down with Ralph in her hands.  
“He’s never seen the sun either.” She informed in a small voice when she noticed the strange look Gar gave her.   
“Well let’s not keep you two waiting.” Conner grinned, and he could see the excitement building in the girl.   
He understood why she was excited too.   
Conner’s first day out in the sun was so much better than when he was stuck in the lab, growing in a pod. The sun itself was beautiful, and it felt nice on his skin, warming him. He could only imagine how Athena was going to react.   
Conner opened the doors and Gar quickly flew out as a bird, but Athena stared at the entrance, and Conner held his hand out for her to take.   
She slowly grasped his hand, then followed him outside, taking timid steps.   
Athena’s bare feet were suddenly warmed and cushioned by a strange sensation she didn’t know how to explain. In front of her was a large mass of water that crashed down in waves, but Athena wasn’t paying attention to that.   
Her attention was quickly on the giant bright orb in the sky. The sun warmed her face and skin, and she felt as if it were concentrating it’s heat and strength all on her.   
“Ralph, it’s the sun.” she said in a whisper, talking to the stuffed bear in her hands. She then turned to Conner, filled with excitement and happiness, pointing at the sun.  
“Conner! Sun! It’s the sun! I not could believing the sun to be beautiful! So beautiful!” she exclaimed happily, jumbling words and ignoring grammar. “And anything was is opened! And the air smelt salt and other things! And what’s under me feet? Is it dirt? Is every dirt like this? The sky so blue! Why is the sky blue? Where do the stars go when the sky comes out? What am me smelling? This is the best day of my life!”  
Conner stood and smiled at her, not being able to answer her questions due to how one came quickly after the other, and how he wasn’t sure what she was exactly asking.   
She then froze, frowning slightly.  
“I… said most of that wrong… didn’t I?” she questioned in a low voice, and Conner shrugged.  
“You did pretty good. But ignore how you speak right now, you’re excited. Go and run around, it’s all open space.” He informed. “Oh, and what’s underneath your toes is sand.”  
Athena took Conner’s advice and was quickly running around the beach, observing the sea grass, and sea shells, and kept looking up at the sky as if it were going to disappear.   
Conner was smiling as he watched her run around, and Gar was next to him.  
“I’m taking it this was a good day for her.” Gar stated with a grin.  
“Considering she was given a name, and saw the sun for the first time? Yes. I think that this was a great day for her.” Conner nodded with a smile.  
They watched as she fell to the ground, but before they could run to her to see if she was okay, Athena quickly stood back to her feet laughing, brushing the sand off of her body, then started to run around again.   
Conner was happy for the girl, but he noticed something. She was keeping a wide girth between herself and the water.   
Gar noticed this too and was quickly running up to the girl.  
“Hey, Athena, wanna go for a swim?” he inquired with a smile as he morphed into an octopus.   
Athena looked at the water nervously. Her eyes focused on the rise and decent of the waves, and she shook slightly.   
“I do not… know how to swim.” She informed in a low voice, and Gar was quickly back in his human form again.  
“It’s okay. The water isn’t that deep. You can just get your feet wet if you want to.” He informed with an easy going smile.   
“J-Just my… feet?” she inquired with a small stutter, looking at the water with growing fear, and Gar’s eyes widened.   
“You don’t have to go in the water if you don’t want to.” He said quickly. “I just thought that you’d like it.”   
The girl shook her head sadly.  
“I do not like… large bodies of water.” Athena said in a whisper, and Gar quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her further away from the ocean.  
“Then you don’t need to go in.” he then looked over at Conner, who was walking up to them.  
“Do you want to see the rest of Happy Harbor? There’s a town near bye.”   
“A town?” Athena questioned. She looked puzzled, and she scrunched up her face in thought. “I… heard the word before… I know that word… what is it?”   
“A town has stores and shops and it’s where people live.” Conner informed, and Athena’s face brightened and she nodded.  
“I… understand now.” She paused for a moment. “Town.” She whispered, trying not to forget the word.  
However, there was a sudden loud bang and the ground shook. Conner looked over towards the town and smoke was coming off of one of the buildings.   
“Gar, look after Athena, I’ll call in if I need help.” He stated quickly, then looked over at the little girl. “Sorry, Athena. But…”  
“Go save people.” Athena smiled, and Conner ran off.  
Gar looked over at Athena and noticed she was looking off in the direction where Conner ran to with some worry.   
“Hey.” He said softly, and Athena looked over at him. “He’s Superboy. He’ll be okay.” Athena slowly smiled and then fell backwards onto the sand, looking up at the sky.   
“I can’t… believe that I’m… free.” She whispered, and Gar laid down on the sand next to her.   
“What exactly did Cadmus do to you? Why did they never take you outside?” he inquired, and Athena sighed.   
“I don’t know… why they kept me inside. I… suppose it was to keep my… hope at bay. If it wasn’t for Mr. Ralph I… would have thought that there… was nothing beyond the walls.” She said sadly. “I… liked Mr. Ralph.”  
“Where is he now?” Gar inquired, and Athena squeezed her teddy bear tighter.  
“I don’t know... I wish I knew. He was really… nice.” Athena smiled when she remembered the day Mr. Ralph proclaimed that it was her birthday and he slipped her a book and a piece of chocolate.   
The book was called A Catcher in the Rye. It was the first book she learned how to read. Athena liked the book. She felt bad for the main character, but she enjoyed it. It was her favorite birthday. She remembered that it was the perfect ending to her day, considering earlier that day she was shot in the arm several times.   
“You also… asked what Cadmus did to me?” she inquired.  
“Yeah.” Gar nodded. “But something tells me I don’t want to know.” He said quietly.   
“I don’t think it would be… considered… humane.” Athena informed, then pointed to several scars on her arms.   
Gar winced, and he could only imagine what happened to her that resulted in her getting them. She was so young too. Gar frowned, thinking about that. His mother constantly loved him when he was growing up. She was always there to quickly bandage a cut knee. But Athena had no mother. No father. She had no one who seemed to really love her.  
Except for Mr. Ralph.   
“Garfield! Project Power! Get in here!” the girl sat up and winced at the name. It was La’gaan yelling from the entry way to the beach.   
Gar helped Athena up, and the two ran toward the building. However, when Athena reached La’gaan she said in a proud voice,  
“My name is Athena Laurel Prince.” La’gaan raised an eyebrow.  
“Says who?” he questioned with disbelief.  
“Wonder Woman and Black Canary named me.” she informed with some excitement, but La’gaan still looked doubtful.   
“La’gaan, she’s telling the truth.” Gar stated, and the Atlantian seemed to let it go.  
“Fine, Athena. Get in the debriefing room. The first room to the right. Batman needs to talk to the team and you.” La’gaan then turned to look at Gar. “Garfield, I need to talk to you for a moment.”   
He shooed Athena away, and the girl slowly walked to where La’gaan instructed her to, and Gar glared at his elder.   
“What’s up with you?” Gar questioned. He liked it better when M’gann was dating Conner, and he didn’t like how La’gaan handled things.  
“Watch yourself, Garfield. That… creature cannot be trusted.” He stated, and Gar’s eyes widened.  
“She’s just a little girl…”  
“A little girl created by Cadmus, grown in a lab. What if they have a mind control device in her, and she’s really a spy? Or what if after years of having no abilities, she suddenly gains some and starts accidentally killing people. What if she can’t control Superman’s strength? Or Black Canary’s scream?” Gar shook his head, but didn’t know how to respond to what La’gaan was saying.   
“Face it, Garfield. You know that she cannot be trusted.” La’gaan shook his head. “And when she turns on us, I’ll be ready for her.”


	6. Chapter 6

Chpt.6  
Athena looked up at Batman and Nightwing. Batman kept his serious face when she entered the room, but Nightwing gave her a warm smile, making her feel more welcomed.   
“I have a name now.” Athena informed with excitement, looking up at the two men.   
“We know Athena, Wonder Woman told us.” Nightwing grinned as he ruffled the girl’s black hair, making her giggle.   
“Athena, where is everyone else?” Batman inquired, and the girl looked behind her, puzzled.   
“They were… right… behind me.” she whispered, but La’gaan and Gar slowly entered the room. Gar was frowning, slightly, making Athena tilt her head in confusion.   
“Gar, are you… alright?” she inquired. For the few hours she had known him, the boy had hardly looked that… well Athena didn’t know how to exactly describe the look on his face, but it did not look good.  
“He’s fine.” La’gaan stated sharply. “Now, what’s going on that the little minnow needs to be here too?” he inquired, giving Athena a pointed look. The look made Athena shrink a bit, but Nightwing gently placed a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder.  
“Where’s Superboy?” he inquired, ignoring La’gaan’s question.   
“Conner went to see a… an explosion… in town.” Athena informed, feeling a bit proud of herself for using the word town correctly.   
“And I’m back.” Conner stated, stepping into the room. Athena quickly ran towards him giving him a hug. “It was just a bank robbery. No casualties, and everyone’s okay.” He informed calmly, and he smiled slightly at the girl. Just then M’gann floated into the room.  
“Sorry I’m late.” She apologized, landing next to La’gaan.   
“It’s alright, we’re still waiting for everyone else to get here.” Nightwing informed, and in a gust of wind, a boy appeared next to Nightwing.   
“Miss me? I know you did. It’s only natural. So, what’s the deal? What’s going on? Is it a big mission? Something really important? I could help! I’d totally crash whatever mode is going on!” a fast voice exclaimed.  
“Who are you?” Athena inquired, tilting her head to the side.  
“I’m Impulse!” the boy exclaimed happily.   
“And why exactly are you here? You’re not officially part of the team.” Nightwing stated, and Bart shrugged.   
“I heard the league talking about the meeting over their COM links.” He informed.  
“That’s impossible. You don’t have a COM link, and they’re frequency is impossible to crack into.” Nightwing said, shooting the boy a pointed look.   
“Ha. Frequencies are something kids crack into all the time. It’s what we do for fun. It’s totally crash.” Impulse laughed.  
“I am… confused… what is crash and mode?” Athena inquired. Conner opened his mouth to say something, but Impulse was faster to speak.  
“Mode is bad, crash is good.” he informed, as Mal and Bumblebee walked into the room, followed closely by Wondergirl, Batgirl, and Robin.   
“Great, the speedster’s here.” Robin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, foreseeing a headache.   
Blue Beetle quickly flew into the room.  
“I’m not late, and I was not going to kill that guy just because he was driving too slow, just let it go! Ay dios mio!” he grunted in frustration, earning him odd looks from everyone in the room.   
“Hey guys.” He waved sheepishly, noticing the eyes staring at him. Batman then cleared his throat.  
“Now that everyone’s here, the meeting can begin.” Batman stated.  
“What about Impulse?” Nightwing questioned, looking at the boy who currently had a random freeze pop in his hands.   
“It doesn’t matter.” Batman sighed. “I don’t think we can make him leave, anyhow.”  
“Correct.” Impulse smiled.   
“This meeting is about Athena.” Batman said in a stone cold voice, and everyone looked at the girl, making her want to disappear. “Cadmus isn’t thrilled that we took her. We have been advised by Cadmus leaders to either return her, or destroy her, for the good of the human population.”   
Athena’s eyes widened and she took a small step back.   
Conner knelt down and wrapped an arm around Athena in a small light hug, then looked at Batman.  
“What do they mean by, the good of the human population?” he questioned, his tone hinting at his anger.  
“They said that she might have malfunctions since she is a failed project.” Batman informed, making Athena flinch. “They also said that it would put her out of her misery.”   
Athena was shaking, her eyes welling up with tears, and she hugged Conner’s arm that was around her tightly.   
“I-I’m fine… I don’t hurt… I’m not in… misery…” she whispered, stuttering.  
“Wait, you’re suggesting that we kill the girl?” Mal questioned in disbelief. Mal didn’t even know who she was, but that was something he was not okay with.   
“No.” Batman stated. “I told Cadmus that killing her was not an option, which made them very unhappy. We have to be careful where Athena goes. People from Cadmus will be looking for her, and they will shoot to kill.”  
“So why did we all need to know this?” La’gaan questioned, crossing his arms.  
“Because she will be living here for the time being, and all of you need to be careful if you take her anywhere.” Batman explained. “There is a target on her back, and if Cadmus gets a chance to kill her, they’ll take it.”  
Athena looked around at all the people in the mountain, studying each face. She then turned her attention to Batman.   
“You… won’t kill me?” she questioned, her voice shaking.   
“We do not kill.” Batman stated sternly, and Nightwing walked over to her and quickly scooped the girl up into his arms.   
She let out a small yelp and winced, squeezing her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to start. Waiting for something horrible to happen since her being in pain was inevitable, and she could never escape it.   
She waited for a few moments, then slowly opened her eyes, looking at Nightwing timidly.   
“Stay whelmed, Athena. We’ll never hurt you.” He informed in a comforting voice, grinning at the girl. “Now, meet the team.”   
Conner watched as Athena met the remaining members of the team, but glanced over at La’gaan and noticed the unhappy look on his face.   
“What’s up with you?” he questioned.   
“She’s going to be nothing but a problem. And what if she does malfunction? We’re all going to wish we killed her when we had the chance.” La’gaan explained bitterly.   
“Don’t say things like that.” Conner growled in a low voice. “She’s just a scared, abused child… a little girl.”  
“A little girl who could malfunction at any moment.” La’gaan stated. “She’s a ticking time bomb.”  
“You make her sound like a robot.” Conner growled, crossing his arms.  
“Well, she is a lab experiment. The only difference between her and a robot is that she’s biological.” La’gaan shrugged.   
Conner had to restrain himself from punching the Atlantian.  
“Oh, that’s right. You’re a lab experiment too.” La’gaan smirked. “Maybe you suffered a malfunction when you decided to break up with my Angel Fish.”   
And back to the girlfriend thing. La’gaan just loved shoving Conner’s breakup in his face.  
Conner’s jaw clenched, and he was having trouble restraining himself from throwing La’gaan through the cave wall.   
“La’gaan, weren’t you going to take me to the movies?” M’gann inquired, walking up to the two.   
“Of course, Angel Fish.” He smiled, leaning in, giving M’gann a long kiss. Conner walked away in disgust, but smiled when he saw Athena talking to some of the team. Specifically Wondergirl, and Bumblebee.   
La’gaan had his own reasons for hating her, and Conner wasn’t going to try to change the guy’s mind. He could care less for what La’gaan thought. At least he would tell himself that so he wouldn’t punch him. He was still a kid with anger issues deep down.   
Conner turned to look at Batman.  
“Cadmus really wants to kill her just because she failed?” he inquired skeptically.   
“There is most likely, another reason.” Batman stated. “Keep an eye on her.”  
“You think she’ll malfunction?” Conner inquired, raising an eyebrow, and Batman kept his stoic face.   
“I don’t know what to think. She is definitely different from most children. She speaks as if she is unsure of the language, yet the words she chooses makes her sound much more like an adult.” Batman informed, and Conner nodded.  
“I don’t know why she uses a larger vocabulary, but she is relatively new to the English language. She told me that she grew up around several different languages that she picked up on her own.” Batman nodded.   
“I also fear for her mentality. She is, in every sense of the term, an abused child. I am just… unsure about her. And I’m not the only one.” Batman let out a sigh, which was the most emotion Conner had ever seen from the hero.   
“Keep an eye on her. Keep her safe, and if something happens, report directly to me.” Conner nodded, then looked back over at Athena.   
As she talked to the other members, she was clutching onto her Teddy bear, and Dick tightly. She was smiling, but she still looked at the people nervously, flinching at any sudden movements they made.   
She was going to need a lot of socializing, and help. Conner was going to make sure what happened to Athena at Cadmus was not going to impact negatively on the rest of her life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chpt.7  
“The league refused to destroy her?” Dr. Milo questioned, although he already figured the answer.   
“Of course. And if you want to keep getting my funding, you have better find her and finish her. I can’t be related to this in any way.” A man stated, glaring at the scientist.  
Milo shrugged looking at the girl’s medical records.   
“There’s not much of your DNA in her, and all she knows is that her DNA is made up of only heroes.” Milo explained. The other man shook his head.  
“There is still a part of me there. If they examine her DNA close enough, they’ll see a part of me and I will have no alibi as to why.” The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
“Well, couldn’t you just… I don’t know… pay off enough people so you wouldn’t be found out.” Milo suggested.  
“To pay off enough people to hide the fact that my DNA just so happens to be part of an experiment that may cause mass destruction? Why, that would take more money than I have.”   
“What about Bruce Wayne? Aren’t you friends with him?”  
“Childhood friends. And Bruce would ask questions, and would not be okay with what I’m doing if I did tell him.” The man sighed. “So, the quick and easy solution would be for you to simply kill her.”   
Dr. Milo sighed, but nodded.  
“We’re trying, but it’s hard to find her.” He explained.  
“Didn’t you put a tracker in her?” the man questioned, and Milo looked down at the floor, feeling stupid.   
“We didn’t think there’d be any need.” The other man sighed, running his hands through his hair.  
“For a scientist, you’re unbelievably stupid.”   
“You’re the one who wanted to have some of your DNA in the experiments.” Milo debated, slightly enraged that the man was putting all the blame on him.  
“Because I thought they were all going to be successes! Not one surviving failure! I was supposed to be the father of powerful weapons!” the man grunted angrily. “I don’t care how, but you will find her, and once you do, kill her.” The man straightened out his jacket, striding to the door. “If I do get caught, I will find a way to make you pay, and you know it Milo.”   
Dr. Milo nodded his head, his eyes wide with fear.  
“I understand sir.” Milo said in a small voice, and the other man grinned, turning his back to the scientist.   
“Good. Now make it happen.”  
~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~  
“Where’s Athena?” Wondergirl inquired, looking at Conner, and he sighed. This was the third day of Athena living in Mt. Justice, and he quickly realized that it was going to take a while for her to get fully adjusted.   
“She’s been gone all morning, but the monitors haven’t reported anyone going outside. I think she’s…”  
“Hiding so no one sees her crying?” Robin suggested in a whisper, walking over to the group holding Athena in his arms. The girl was asleep, but her cheeks were wet from when she was crying earlier.  
“She must’ve had another bad dream.” Conner sighed, gently taking Athena from Robin’s hands.   
Conner found out quickly that Athena was always told to never cry, but to tell a little girl that is ridiculous. So, Athena would wait until she was all alone, or where no one could see her, and just cry for a while.  
Despite being safe, Athena still would think about Cadmus, and was too afraid to cry in front of everyone.   
“Where was she?” Wondergirl inquired in a concerned voice.   
“A supply closet.” Robin answered, which would explain why Athena smelt a bit like cleaning products to Conner.  
The girl started to stir in Conner’s arms, and he waited for her to wake up. Her blue and green eyes settled on him in some confusion.  
“Conner?” she inquired.   
“It’s me, Athena.” Conner nodded, and the girl looked around, most likely confused how she fell asleep in a closet then somehow landed in Conner’s arms.   
“Why’d you lock yourself in the closet?” Wondergirl inquired, and Athena looked down at the ground.   
“I…” she paused, stopping herself. Everyone knew she was in there to cry, but she never wanted to say so.   
“You can talk to us, Athena. It’s alright, you won’t get in any trouble.” Robin informed gently, and Athena looked up at him, then glanced at everyone else.   
“I was… crying.” She whispered in a shameful voice. “I’m sorry.” She started to shake slightly. “I never… mean to cry… I just… I’m just really scared.”  
“Scared?” Wondergirl inquired, and Athena nodded.   
“I’m scared that… I will be sent… back to Cadmus. I’m scared that I will be… found. And killed. I’m scared of… some of the team… I just get scared.” She informed, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry.”   
“There’s no need for you to be sorry about being scared, Athena.” Conner stated. “We all get scared, but everything’s going to be okay. We will never send you to Cadmus, we won’t let you be found, and no one on this team will hurt you.” Athena smiled slightly, nodding, and Conner placed her back on her feet.   
“Athena, today Cassie is going to take you into town.” Robin smiled.   
“Cassie?” she looked up at Wondergirl, then smiled. “Is that your other name? Like how Superboy is Conner?”   
“Yes.” Cassie grinned, but Athena frowned slightly.   
“But… what if they find me?” Athena inquired, and Cassie beamed at her.   
“They can’t find you if they don’t recognize you.” Cassie informed, taking a hold of Athena’s hand.   
“Here, I’ll show you in your room!” she said with excitement. Athena followed Cassie, and once inside the room, Cassie took out a wig from her bag. It was dark brown and short and curly.   
“I think this wig should look pretty convincing. I was thinking blond, but your skin’s too dark for that to look natural. So, brown. It’s short and curly, which helps because you’re hair’s long, wavy, and black.” Cassie seemed very proud of herself.   
“How do you put it on?” Athena inquired, and Cassie patted, the edge of the bed for her to sit.   
“It might take a while.” She informed, taking out some hair pins and a wig cap. Athena sat on the edge of the bed, where Cassie started to take strands of the girl’s long hair, and started to pin the strands of hair closer to her head. She then pulled the wig cap over her head, pining it into place.   
Then came the wig, which Cassie also used an excessive amount of pins to hold into place.   
“There we go.” Cassie grinned happily, proud of her wig work. “Now, time for your eye color.”   
Athena didn’t necessarily enjoy the brown contacts, but she had felt much more uncomfortable before, so she could deal with the strange feeling covering her eyes.   
Cassie then pulled out a pair of jeans that looked like they would fit her, along with a long sleeve shirt. Both would cover her scars easily.   
The green long sleeve shirt fit well, but the jeans were slightly long. Cassie had a quick solution and rolled up her pant legs to fit.   
She then gave the girl some socks and sneakers to put on.  
“There.” Cassie said, pleased with herself, holding up a mirror for Athena.   
The small girl looked in the mirror and her eyes widened.   
“I… look so different.” She said in a soft voice, but then smiled. “I look different!” she could care less about the strange feeling contacts and the somewhat itchy wig. All Athena cared about was the fact that she looked different.   
“Now let’s head to town and get you some more cloths, and I’ll take you to the mall! Oh my god, Athena, you are going to love the mall!” Cassie said with excitement. “It will be a total girl’s day out. Just you and me!”  
Athena couldn’t help from laughing happily as she followed Cassie downstairs after the elder got changed into jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt, and pulled her hair into a pony tail.   
Conner was surprised by how well Cassie was able to disguise Athena.   
“Great disguise.” Conner smiled, but then walked closer to Cassie as Athena headed towards the door. “Keep an eye on her, okay? If anything goes wrong, just give a shout. I’ll hear you.” He stated seriously, and Cassie nodded.   
“I’ll look after her, Conner. There’s nothing to worry about.” Cassie said softly, then caught up with Athena, ready to go outside for the second time in her life.   
~*~*~*~*~At the mall~*~*~*~*~  
Athena was in awe at how many people were in one large building. People were moving past her quickly and Athena was too busy observing the scene around her that she didn’t realize Cassie moving ahead.   
“Athena?” Cassie questioned, turning around, and she saw the girl frozen, staring at everything around her. Athena then noticed that she was separated from the older girl, and sprinted over to her.   
While doing so, the young girl collided with a larger man, landing her on her butt.   
“S-s-s-s-s-”Athena was trying to get the word ‘sorry’ out, but was too terrified. She had just collided with a man she didn’t know at a busy mall. Was she in trouble? Is that a crime? Nobody else seemed to be bumping into each other.   
“Are you okay?” the man questioned, helping Athena to her feet. Athena nodded and Cassie was quickly at her side.  
“I’m sorry, sir. My cousin gets distracted easily.” She said with an apologetic smile, and the man shrugged.  
“It’s alright. You two be safe, now.” The man grinned, then continued to walk along.  
“Watch where you’re going, okay Athena?” Cassie questioned, and the girl mutely nodded. Cassie gently gripped Athena’s hand, and the two walked into a clothing store.   
Athena didn’t expect for there to be such a large amount of clothing items. She grew up wearing a one piece zip up suit for majority of her life, but she realized that the stores didn’t even sell one piece zip up suits.   
Cassie had her try on t-shirts, and jeans, and shoes, and hats, and scarves, and jackets, and some items of clothing Athena couldn’t even identify the name.   
They ended up leaving the store with a bag that was huge, completely filled with clothing. Cassie reminded herself to thank Batman for the money to get Athena clothes. She wouldn’t be surprised if she found out Batman was a billionaire or something of the sorts.   
As they were walking through the mall, they passed a music shop.   
“What’s that?” Athena inquired, looking up at Cassie.  
“What’s what?” the older questioned, confused about what the girl was referring to.  
“That… sound. I’ve been… hearing it throughout the mall… but this is a very… nice sound. It’s like talking and… other things… but… not.”  
“You mean the music?” Cassie questioned, still perplexed.   
“Is that what music is?” Athena inquired, listening more to the sound playing nearby. Cassie looked over at the music shop.  
“You mean the sound coming from that store?” she questioned, pointing to the store. Athena nodded her head, and Cassie chuckled.   
“Let’s rock! Everybody let’s rock. Everybody in the old cell block. Were dancin’ to the jail house rock.”  
“That’s Elvis.” She informed, and Athena was still confused.   
“Elvis?”  
“The person singing. His name is Elvis.” Cassie stated as she and Athena made their way to the store. Athena never was introduced to music before. She heard a guard occasionally hum, but that was the closest she had ever heard of music.  
“I like Elvis.” The girl nodded, listening to the song some more.   
“It must be his birthday or something for them to be playing it.” Cassie mused as they walked into the store. She then picked up a CD.   
“Do you want to listen to this when we get home? It’s all of Elvis’ hits.”  
“Is that a good thing?” Athena inquired, and Cassie nodded.   
“Yes, that’s a good thing.” Athena thought for a moment, then nodded.  
“Alright…that sounds fun.”   
Cassie bought the CD, and the two started to head back to the exit to get back home, or at least that’s what Athena started calling it. The rest of the team usually referred to it as “the base” or “Mt. Justice” but Athena was the only one who actually dubbed it as her home.  
“Thank you for taking me out today. The world is so… big.” Athena smiled. “And all the English is also a big help.”  
“Help?” Cassie inquired, raising an eyebrow. No one had told her about how Athena was still learning the language.   
“For my speaking.” Athena explained, and Cassie just assumed that Athena was thanking her for the experience to expand her vocabulary. “Just, thank you. I… appreciate it very much.”   
Cassie smiled as she swung their clasped hands a little.   
“No problem, Athena.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chpt.8  
Conner never expected Athena to be so in love with music. Especially Elvis. She had memorized all of his songs and would often sing along with the CD when she was alone in her room or in the shower, but she was too nervous to sing in front of anybody else.   
However, Conner was grateful for the music. It was helping Athena with learning English as well, and she often didn’t have breaks in her sentences.   
After Elvis came the Four Seasons, and then Cassie introduced her to Kelly Clarkson, and Bumblebee said that it would be a sin not to have Athena listen to Michael Jackson.   
Mal noticed Athena’s passion for listening to music, and asked her what her favorite Disney song was. When the girl replied that she didn’t know what Disney was, he was adamant that she should watch all the movies in order to have a proper child hood.   
Mal got his way and had a week long Disney movie marathon.   
Athena’s favorite movies after she was finished watching them all, were Lilo and Stitch, Hercules, and Mulan. Her favorite Disney Princess was Tiana.   
Athena felt an odd connection with Stitch in Lilo and Stich. He was an experiment that people wanted to destroy, and he felt just as lost as she sometimes felt. There was plenty of Elvis music in the movie as well, which made her smile.   
Despite loving the movie, she always cried at the end. Mal saw her crying, but didn’t address it. He knew that if he did, she’d crawl back into her shell and hide away, and she was making a lot of process with being more open. He didn’t want her running and hiding again. However, Mal always wondered if she was crying out of happiness or sadness at the end of the movie.   
Three weeks had passed with her listening to music, watching Disney movies, and going outside to soak up the sun on the beach, however she remained to steer clear of the water.   
Everyone noticed this, especially La’gaan.   
“By Neptune’s beard, it’s only water.” La’gaan stated. He was planning to go for a swim when he noticed the girl staring at the waves with fear as she sat on the beach.   
The team trusted her on the beach alone. Not many people were ever allowed access onto the beach, and they didn’t have to worry about her getting hurt in the ocean due to her fear of it.   
Athena sighed as she stared at the water, then looked down at Ralph.   
“I know Ralph. I wasn’t thinking about it.” She then looked up at La’gaan. “I’m not good in water.” La’gaan raised an eyebrow.  
“But do you not have part of my king’s DNA?” he questioned, and Athena tilted her head, confused.   
“Your king?”  
“You know him as Aquaman.” La’gaan sighed, looking at Athena like she was stupid.   
“Oh.” She nodded. “I do have some of his DNA.” La’gaan sighed, shaking his head in disgust.   
“You have my King’s DNA, and yet you are too afraid of the water. Truly pitiful.” He sneered.   
“I’ll drown.” Athena whispered, looking over at Ralph. “Yeah. I remember, Ralph.”   
“That’s an excuse, minnow.” La’gaan stated as he walked off to the ocean.   
Athena watched as he jumped into the ocean and swam with ease. He made swimming through the terrifying waves look like child’s play.   
“Actually Ralph…”  
“Don’t be an idiot, Athena. You’ll die.”  
“Who knows. It’s been awhile since I tried.” Athena said with some hope, looking at the bear with a small smile.   
“And don’t you remember the last time you tried? You drowned several times. You tried as hard as you could, but it was no use. You can’t swim! And I don’t want you to get hurt!”  
“But maybe I won’t get hurt, Ralph! Maybe it’s a skill that comes with age. I have to try. Then I could swim with Gar, and Cassie. Maybe Conner could swim with us too.” She explained.  
“But you can’t swim, Athena! I don’t want you to get hurt!” Athena sighed, looking over at her teddy bear.   
“I have to at least try.” She then smiled slightly. “Maybe La’gaan might like me if I could swim.”   
“Don’t do things just so he can like you.”   
“But I didn’t do anything wrong. And M’gann likes him a lot. We could be friends.” She said softly.  
“Athena…”   
“I’m swimming today, Ralph.” Athena stated sternly, then stood to her feet, leaving Ralph on the sand. She was barefoot, wearing mesh shorts and a green tank top. She didn’t bother wearing her wig and contacts while on the beach.   
Athena reached the water’s edge, and took in a deep breath, walking foreword.   
“I can do this.” She whispered as she continued walking deeper into the water. Athena thought that she was doing pretty well.   
Unfortunately a wave knocked her over, and started to drag her out into the ocean. She felt as if the ocean had hands and it was pulling her down and further into its mouth. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to imitate La’gaan how he swam, but she couldn’t get the motion down.   
Her head bobbed to the surface and she was able to get a breath, but then she was quickly pulled back down.   
Her lungs filled with water when she attempted to breathe again, and she felt herself sinking deeper.  
A memory quickly flashed before her eyes.   
“Please! D-do not… put… put me in there… again. Please” Athena pleaded, and Milo sighed.   
“Project Power, I know you can do this. Just breath underwater. Or hold your breath. You’re only going to be submerged in there for fifteen minutes.”   
“I… cannot… breath in there. Or… or hold… my breath.”   
“Only you can decide that.” Milo stated as he dragged her back to the water tank.   
Athena felt a pair of hands grab her and pull her up.  
Conner? Athena thought as she felt herself be pulled above the water and dragged onto the beach.   
She coughed and water poured out of her throat.   
“By Neptune’s Beard! Were you trying to get yourself killed!?!” La’gaan shouted, then slung her over his shoulder. He then picked up Ralph, then walked into Mt. Justice.   
Nobody was there except for Beast Boy, and M’gann, who were both in the training room.   
He placed Athena onto her bed and handed the bear to her. He left the room and quickly returned with a towel and wrapped it around her.   
“You stupid creature! You almost died!” La’gaan shouted, and Athena grasped onto Ralph tightly.   
“I just thought-”  
“It doesn’t matter what you thought! You almost died! I thought you told me that you’d drown!” Athena looked down at her feet.   
“You said that that was an excuse.” Athena whispered, and La’gaan’s eyes widened.   
“I didn’t think you’d…” he started, but then shook his head. “Minnow, you know your limitations. Don’t try to do something when you know you can’t. Got it?”   
Athena nodded, then looked up at La’gaan.   
“Thanks for getting me out of the water.” She said softly. “And for remembering to grab Ralph.”   
La’gaan rolled his eyes.  
“I only grabbed the stupid toy because I figured you’d be in some sort of catatonic shock by now, and you’d need something to calm yourself.” La’gaan informed. “Why aren’t you panicking? Most people would.” He questioned gruffly.   
“This isn’t the first time I almost died in the water.” Athena sighed. “I guess you could say that I am used to it.”   
La’gaan suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the girl, but his heart hardened again.   
Experiments can’t be trusted. She can malfunction at any time. She could turn, just like… La’gaan pushed the thought out of his head.   
“Don’t let it happen again. I might not be there to get you out next time.” He stated, then stormed out of the room.   
“You scared me.” Athena looked down in her hands at Ralph.  
“Sorry. I guess you were right. I just thought…”  
“I know what you were thinking, Athena. And you know why. I’m you.” Athena shook her head, droplets of water falling from her hair.  
“Ralph, you know I don’t want to believe that. You’re Ralph. You’re my friend.” She said quietly.   
“I’m you, Athena. Only you decided to hear your voice come from a bear.”   
“Ralph… I’m not ready.” Athena whispered sadly.   
“Alright, Athena. But one day you’ll realize that I’m just you. But it’ll be okay because you won’t need to talk to me.”   
“But right now I need you.” Athena said softly, holding the bear tighter in her hands. He was the only one who never left her. He couldn’t leave her now.  
“Okay, Athena. I love you.” Athena hugged the bear tightly, shivering slightly from the cool air on her wet skin.   
“I love you too.”


	9. Chapter 9

Chpt.9  
Athena decided that it was best for her not to tell anyone about how she almost drowned . She knew that they allowed her on the beach without any supervision because they knew that she was safe there. If she told them she almost died, they would most likely feel compelled to watch over her even on the beach.   
Athena enjoyed being with people, but she did enjoy her alone time on the beach. She enjoyed just being able to relax and soak up the sun.   
It was strange how much she enjoyed the feel of the sun warming her skin. It felt as if she were gaining it’s strength.   
Athena walked into the living room, and saw Conner’s huge pet.  
“Hello Wolf.” Athena smiled, petting the giant animal.   
She liked Wolf, and Wolf liked the girl as well. Sometimes Conner would walk into the living room and found Athena curled up sleeping comfortably on Wolf’s stomach, and the animal would be curled around her protectively. Athena was Wolf’s pup, and Wolf was very protective of her.   
Conner was the only one who was allowed to pick Athena up and off of Wolf’s stomach when she slept to put her in her own bed. Any other team mate who made any attempt to pick the girl up was stopped by Wolf’s low threatening growl.   
“How are you today?” Athena inquired, scratching behind the massive animal’s ear. Wolf was, by all means, bigger than the girl, so she had to get on her tip toes to scratch behind his ears.   
“Have you seen Conner?” Ralph was the only one who talked back to her when she asked questions. She knew that Wolf wouldn’t talk back, but she enjoyed talking to him like he understood her.   
“He’s out on a mission.” Athena looked up to see… well, she didn’t exactly know who he was. He sounded familiar, but she didn’t think she had ever seen his face before. She was quickly behind Wolf, but she was puzzled why Wolf didn’t seem as on edge to a stranger in Mt. Justice.   
The man wore sun glasses, had longer black hair, and looked to be in his early twenties. He wore a tight fitting blue t-shirt, a black jacket and jeans.   
“W-who are you?” she questioned timidly.   
“Athena, it’s me, Nightwing.” He said calmly.  
“Nightwing?” Athena looked over the man again. She had never seen him out of costume.   
The girl walked out from behind Wolf, and looked up at Nightwing curiously.   
“Why aren’t you wearing your outfit?” she inquired, and Dick laughed.   
“I got some time off.” He said with a shrugged. “I was wondering if you want to come with me to the circus.” He informed, and Athena tilted her head.   
“Circus?”  
“When people flip around and people walk across the tight rope, and elephants do tricks and there are daring stunts. You know… Circus.” Nightwing explained the best he could. Athena could only think of Dumbo when he explained the circus, but she was up for seeing something new.  
“So, you want to come with me?” Nightwing questioned with a broad smile, and Athena nodded with some excitement.   
“Alright.” Nightwing chuckled and handed her a helmet.  
“Let’s get going then.” Athena smiled and quickly put in her brown contacts and short wig. Cassie taught her how to quickly change into her disguise.   
Athena had never rode a motorcycle, but Nightwing helped her put the helmet on, and he placed the girl on top of the vehicle, and got on in front of her.   
“Hold on tight.” He advised, and quickly revved the engine. Athena clutched onto his jacket tightly as the motorcycle sped off.   
Athena didn’t know why, but she was enjoying the speed of the vehicle. It was an exhilarating feeling. An adrenaline rush, and she found herself loving every second of it.   
While Nightwing was stopped at a stop light, he turned around to look at Athena.  
“Are you doing alright?” he inquired and she nodded with a big smile on her face, and Nightwing couldn’t help but smile back. Yup, she definitely had Bruce’s fearlessness and love for fast vehicles.   
God help her when we teach her how to drive. Nightwing thought to himself as he continued to drive the motorcycle.   
They reached the Circus tent, and Nightwing helped the girl off.   
“Alright, Athena.” He stated as he helped her take off her helmet, and then he took of his own. Then his glasses. “Call me Dick, alright?”  
“Dick? Is that your other name?” Athena questioned, and he nodded.   
“Just keep it a secret. I can trust you with that, right?” he smiled, and the girl nodded seriously. He couldn’t help himself from ruffling her hair. “Alright, let’s head in and get our seats.”   
Athena held Dick’s hand so she wouldn’t get separated from him, just like she did with Cassie at the mall.   
Dick found two seats and got some popcorn for them.   
“Feel the aster, Athena. Circus shows are the best.” He grinned, and Athena smiled as the lights dimmed and a spot light was pointed at the ring master.   
~*~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~*~  
“That was amazing!” Athena exclaimed after the show was over and people were leaving. Her eyes were wide, still amazed about what she had seen.  
“Haly’s Circus is the best.” Dick smiled as he stood from his seat. Athena grasped Dick’s hand and followed him, but was confused when they didn’t go to the exit. He actually headed closer to where the animals were.   
Dick headed straight to an elephant and placed a hand gently on its side.   
“Hey, Zitka.” He smiled, and the elephant wrapped a trunk around him like a hug. Dick looked down at Athena.   
“Athena, this is Zitka. She’s a good friend of mine.” Dick grinned, and Athena smiled at the creature. She always loved Elephants. But to be fair, she liked majority of the animals she saw.  
“So he says hello to the Elephant before me? I’m hurt.” Athena turned around to see an older looking man.  
“Zitka was practically calling for me during the performance. I couldn’t just ignore her afterwards.” Dick chuckled as he walked over to the older man. “It’s great to see you again, Mr. Hayly.” He smiled.   
“It’s great seeing you again too, Dick.” The older man grinned, and Dick turned to look at Athena.   
“Athena, this is an old friend, Mr. Haly.” He informed. “Mr. Haly, this is Athena.” The girl made the motion to shake the man’s hand, but Mr. Haly hugged her instead.  
“It’s great meeting you, Athena.” He looked at Dick with a raised eyebrow, and Dick quickly shook his head.   
“She’s a friend of mine.” He informed quickly. He was too young to be having kids. Mr. Hayly smiled, and looked down at Athena.  
“So, did you enjoy the show?” he questioned.  
“It was amazing!” Athena beamed happily.   
“It would have been even more amazing if Dick performed.” Mr. Hayly grinned, looking up at Dick, and Athena looked over at him.   
“You can perform in a circus?” she inquired, and Mr. Hayly laughed.   
“Of course he can! Once a Flying Grayson, always a Flying Grayson.” Mr. Hayly exclaimed with joy. He seemed like a proud father.   
“I used to swing around on the trapeze with my family.” Dick informed with a small smile.  
“Before we break everything down, do you want to swing around for old times’ sake?” Mr. Hayly questioned, and Dick smiled.  
“How could I say no?” Mr. Hayly chuckled and started to leave the tent.   
“I need to go over tonight’s earning, stay safe, Dick.” He said with a small wave, then left.   
Dick turned to look at Athena.  
“Do you want to go on the trapeze with me?” Athena looked up at the tall pole leading to the platform where the swings were.   
“I don’t know if I’d be able to.” Athena said in a small voice, and Dick chuckled.   
“It isn’t that hard. I’ll show you.” He smiled, and Athena smiled back and nodded.   
She followed Dick up the latter to the platform and Dick took a hold of the trapeze and easily swung from one ledge to the other, then back to Athena.   
“I don’t think I can do this.” Athena whispered and Dick gave her an encouraging smile.  
“Sure you can.” Dick grabbed onto the trapeze and handed it to Athena. “Here we’ll go together.” He gripped the bar around Athena’s hands and then pushed off.   
Athena felt the wind flying through her hair, and she found it... well she didn’t have a word to describe it, but she was loving every second. However, Athena was completely clueless how to get to one swing to the other.   
Dick was way ahead of her and quickly wrapped one arm around Athena, and she grasped onto him as he propelled himself, holding her, to the other swing and safely traveled to the other side.   
“Fun?” he questioned, Athena nodded happily.   
“Lots of fun.” She grinned, but then frowned slightly. “Sorry I didn’t know how to make the jump.”  
“No problem. I wasn’t expecting you to know how.” He looked at the swing then at her. “Wanna go again?” he inquired, and she smiled with excitement.   
Dick figured that she’d enjoy the trapeze. However, he didn’t expect her to be so fearless. The heights didn’t seem to faze her in the slightest.   
“Why did you stop doing this?” Athena inquired while they were swinging. Dick made it to the other side and sighed.  
“Well, I used to do the trapeze act with my family when I was young. But one day some nasty people made my parents have an accident and they died. I was then adopted by Batman, and I had to live with him.” Dick explained.   
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Athena said sadly, but Dick quickly smiled.  
“But it’s alright, Athena. I’ve had a great life.” Athena couldn’t keep frowning when Dick was smiling.   
“Wait, so since Batman adopted you, and he’s sort of my Dad, does that make you sort of my brother?” she inquired, and Dick ruffled her hair.  
“I guess so. Welcome to the family.” He then took off swinging with her again.  
They left the circus tent after Dick had another small talk and goodbye to Mr. Hayly. The two went back to Dick’s motorcycle and Athena smiled as she felt the world pass her in a blur.   
They returned to Mt. Justice and Dick put his sun glasses back on as the two walked into the living room.   
Conner was in the living room, and Athena ran to him happily.   
“Nightwing took me to the Circus! It was amazing!” she exclaimed, still excited. Conner sighed with relief.   
“That sounds like fun.” He then looked up at Nightwing. “It’d be nice if Nightwing was more clear where he was taking you in his note, though.” Conner stated, holding up the hastily written letter he found on the kitchen counter.   
Conner,  
Taking Athena out to party.   
~N.W.  
“Settle down Super Papa, she’s back by curfew.” Nightwing chuckled. He then looked at Athena. “But it’s been a busy night for you, Athena. You should get some sleep.” He informed, and Athena nodded, running up giving him a hug.  
“Thank you for taking me to the circus. Goodnight.” She smiled, then hugged Conner.   
“Good night, Conner.” She then ran upstairs to her room.   
“Was she okay there?” Conner inquired, and Nightwing nodded.   
“She had a blast. Not to mention I found out that she got a thrill gene from someone. She loved the motorcycle ride, and swinging on the trapeze.” Nightwing grinned, but then got more serious. “Has there been any new about if the rest of the league is going to try to talk to her?”  
“Green Lantern says he’ll try to stop by this week. Superman is still fighting off earth, and Aquaman is coming over tomorrow. The rest of the league is just busy.” Conner sighed. “Not to mention, Batman has been going over her DNA and he sees a faint trace of some other DNA strand that doesn’t match up with anyone from the league.” Conner informed. Nightwing raised an eyebrow.  
“That’s weird. Has he figured out who’s DNA it’s from?” he inquired.  
“No.” Conner sighed. “But he’s working on it.” Conner then grinned slightly. “It’s strange to see Batman looking so concerned over a little girl.” Nightwing shrugged.  
“To be technical, Athena is partially his daughter.”   
“Still, I wouldn’t think of him as a kid person.” Conner informed, and Nightwing chuckled. It was his typically ‘I know something you don’t know’ chuckle, and Conner was used to hearing it.  
“You don’t know Batman very well.”


	10. Chapter 10

Chpt.10  
Athena woke up in the middle of the night, sweat dripping from her forehead and she was shaking.   
The girl looked over at Ralph.  
“I know, you don’t have to tell me, I should have never tried to swim.” She whispered.   
She dreamed that she was in the ocean again, except there was no one there to pull her out of the water. She was being dragged down by somebody. She couldn’t get a good look of his face, but she could see a head of short dark red hair attached to the body dragging her down.  
She tried swimming to the surface and trying to get out of the man’s hands, but it was no use. She couldn’t get out of his grip. She looked down pass the man, and saw that he was dragging her into a white room on the ocean floor. The incinerator room.  
Athena was surprised she didn’t wake up screaming, but she was still so shaken that she couldn’t get back to sleep.   
She quietly stood from her bed and walked over to grab her CD player and headphones, grabbing her Elvis CD as well.   
“When you're weary   
Feeling small   
When tears are in your eyes   
I will dry them all” Athena smiled slightly, calming down to the sound of The King’s deep soothing voice.   
“I'm on your side   
When times get rough   
And friends just can't be found   
Like a bridge over troubled water   
I will lay me down   
Like a bridge over troubled water   
I will lay me down.”  
Athena liked this song. Granted, she liked all of Elvis’ songs, but she always had a place in her heart for this one. Bridge over troubled water.   
Once the song ended she took off her headphones and sighed. Her heart was beating at its normal pace again and her tears were dried.   
She laid back in her bed, still awake, but feeling better. She then heard something blast off in the Mountain and she figured that the team was going on a mission somewhere and either took a jet or the Bio ship.   
“I hope they’ll be alright.” Athena whispered. She always worried when they went on Missions. Mainly because they could get hurt, and she didn’t want any of them getting hurt. Even La’gaan.   
She let out a heavy sigh, but sat up when she heard her door open.   
“I was just checking up on you. I didn’t expect you to be awake.” Informed a deep voice, and Athena smiled slightly at the sight of Batman. One of her fathers.   
“I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.” She informed. Batman nodded and soundlessly moved to the side of her bed, then sat down on the chair from her desk.   
“How has your stay here been? Have you been getting enough sleep and enough to eat?” he questioned, and Athena nodded.   
“I like it here. M’gann is an awesome cook, and if I don’t get enough sleep, that’s mainly my fault.” Batman’s features were softer when alone with Athena. He still looked serious, but his jaw wasn’t tightly clenched like it usually was.  
“Have you been having Nightmares?” Batman inquired, and Athena looked down at the ground with a small frown.   
“Yes.” She whispered, and Batman placed a hand on her shoulder.   
“We won’t let anything happen to you, Athena. You’re safe here with us.” He informed in a soft voice. Athena looked up at him and smiled.  
“Thank you, Batman.” She then giggled. “Nii-san took me to the circus today.” Her eyes then widened. “I mean… Nightwing. Nightwing took me to the circus today.” She informed quickly, and Batman looked at her with some surprise.   
“Did you just speak Japanese?” he questioned, and Athena nodded.  
“Sorry. I’ve been trying to stick with English for a while. I didn’t mean to slip.” Her voice was very apologetic.   
“No, it’s alright, Athena.” He said calmly. “But, did you call Nightwing brother?” Athena looked down at her lap.   
“He told me when we were swinging on the trapeze that you adopted him. And since you’re kind of my Dad, that would make him kind of my brother. And also Nightwing was really nice to me, and he reminds me of those nice brothers in books. So I think of him as a brother.” She informed.   
Nightwing is the brotherly type. Batman thought to himself, but then mentally reviewed her sentence.  
“Wait, Nightwing took you onto the trapeze?” he inquired, and Athena nodded.  
“Yeah, it was a lot of fun, and he made sure not to let me get stuck when hopping swings.” She informed casually.   
Batman wasn’t sure if he liked the fact that Dick decided to throw a little girl on a trapeze, but he was proud how she enjoyed it. He couldn’t help feeling proud.   
“What else have you been doing around here?” he questioned, and Athena talked all about her stay there. She talked about Mal and the Disney movies, and her love for music, and how she liked Wolf, and how she liked the beach.   
Batman listened as the girl talked, and his heart ached slightly. He could mentally hear her voice in the future. He could picture it by just tweaking it slightly, giving it an older tone. Her voice, was the younger voice of his mother’s.   
Batman didn’t care who else was involved. She was still his daughter. He was debating with himself whether or not to invite her to stay in the mansion, but he noticed how she talked about the team and the beach, and he knew he couldn’t take her away from Mt. Justice. Maybe when she was older, but not when she was still getting used to everything.   
As Athena talked, he noticed her yawning, and her eyes blinking slowly.   
“Elvis is an amazing singer.” She said with a yawn. “His voice is really…” she yawned again. “Nice.”  
“You should get some rest.” Batman said gently, as he pulled the covers up to cover the her body, due to her kicking off the blankets in her Nightmare.   
“Thanks for checking up on me.” Athena whispered, and then closed her eyes, letting sleep take her away.   
Batman silently exited the room, but paused in the door way, whispering,   
“That is what Fathers do.”


	11. Chapter 11

Chpt.11  
Athena was nervous about meeting Aquaman when Conner told her that he would be stopping by. She didn’t know how she should act in front of him because he was a king and La’gaan always referred to him in a very formal way, and not to mention that he probably knew she couldn’t swim. Would he not like her like La’gaan didn’t like her because of that?   
Conner noticed her shaking slightly as she sat on the couch, stroking Wolf’s side.   
“Athena, you have nothing to worry about.” Conner said gently and Athena looked over at him with worry.  
“But what if he doesn’t like me, like La’gaan doesn’t like me?” she questioned nervously. She had already met Batman, Wonder Woman, and Black Canary, but none of them loved something she absolutely feared.   
“Aquaman and La’gaan are _very_ different people.” Conner informed. “There’s no need for you to be nervous about-”  
The computer voice sounded, informing about Aquaman’s presence in Mt. Justice.  
“Come on.” He said gently, and Athena stood from the couch and followed Conner timidly into the room where Aquaman was waiting.  
She laid eyes on the tall, muscular blond man. He looked at her with a small smile.  
“Hello minnow.” He said warmly, and Athena’s nerves were slightly put at ease. The way Aquaman called her Minnow somehow didn’t seem as condescending as when La’gaan called her it.   
“Hello Aquaman.” She said, and despite how she was more calm than before, her voice came out in a small squeak.   
Aquaman approached the girl, and even though he didn’t show it, he was just as nervous as she was. He never had much interaction with girl children. He only had his son, who was much younger than Athena.  
“Shall we talk outside. I have been told that you enjoy the beach.” Athena mutely nodded and followed the man outside, looking behind her shoulder to see Conner staying behind but he gave her an encouraging smile.   
As Athena followed the tall Atlantian, he questioned,  
“Have you been swimming in the ocean since you got here?” Athena shook her head remorsefully.  
“No. I can’t swim.” She informed, and the King looked at her, baffled.   
“Cannot swim? But you are part Atlantian, you have the sea in your blood.” He stated and she looked at him sadly.   
“I’ve tried, but every time I have, I came close to drowning.” She said with a frown, thinking about the dream she had the night before and cringed.   
Aquaman noticed her fear, and questioned,  
“Has anyone ever tried to teach you how to swim?” Athena shook her head, and Aquaman smiled.   
“Then that is the problem. Nobody can learn how to swim without help.” He gently grasped Athena’s hand and started to pull her to the water. “I will teach you.” He informed.   
Athena was wearing shorts and a black t-shirt. It wouldn’t be hard for her to swim in, but when Aquaman started to pull her closer and closer to the ocean, she quickly pulled her hand away from his, and backed away slowly.  
She was shaking and Aquaman’s eyes widened.   
“Athena, you have nothing to fear from the water.” He informed gently.   
“Yes I do.” Athena whispered. “I’ll drown. I always drown.” Aquaman walked over to the girl and knelt in front of her.   
“You do not need to go into the water if you do not wish to, Athena.” He then sat on the beach, and patted the sand next to him, inviting Athena to take a seat.   
“Athena, what do you like about the beach?” he inquired.  
“The sun.” she answered with a small smile. “I really like the sun.”   
A small conversation was struck up between the two, and Athena listened to the tales that Aquaman had from Atlantis, and what it was like there.   
“It sounds like a beautiful place.” Athena whispered. She could only imagine the vivid colors of the ocean coral and fish, and the beautiful underwater city. However, that was Athena’s drawback. It was underwater.   
“I will take you there some day, when you know how to swim.” Aquaman smiled, but Athena frowned.  
“I will never be able to swim.” She sighed. Aquaman shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“Athena, do not ever tell yourself that you will not be able to do something, just because you cannot do it now.” He smiled at her. “And I believe that even though you are afraid of the water now, when you get older, you will be swimming like you have been living in the water for years.”   
Athena’s frown turned into a small smile and she giggled a bit.  
“It’s going to _take_ me years if I am ever going to get the ability of swimming down.” Aquaman chuckled, but his communicator sounded.   
“I must go.” He informed as he stood to his feet, Athena following in suit. “Trouble in Japan, but it has been a pleasure getting to know you.”   
“You too.” She said with a smile, and Aquaman ran off, leaving Athena on the beach.  
She looked out at the ocean. The more she looked at it, the more it seemed to scare her. It scared her, because it looked so beautiful, as if it were tempting her to just take a step in. However, she knew that if she did, she could and would drown.   
“One day I’ll learn how to swim.” she whispered, but shook slightly when she heard a wave crash loudly against the sand. “… just not today.”   
Athena made her way back inside, but as she started to enter the room, she bumped into Blue Beetle.   
“Hola Amiga.” He smiled, helping her up to her feet.   
“Hola.” She giggled. She picked up whatever little pieces of Spanish Blue Beetle would say fairly easily.   
“Did you talk to Aquaman today?” he inquired, and Athena sighed.   
“Yeah. He tried to teach me how to swim, but I was too afraid to get into the water.” She informed, but Blue Beetle gave her a warm smile.  
“Don’t dwell much on it, Chica. It’s-”  
“Team! Meeting in the Mission room _now _!” Nightwing exclaimed with urgency, and Blue Beetle went flying off.  
Athena stayed in place. This had happened before, and she knew that when there was a mission, she was to stay out of the way for everyone to run where they needed to be.   
Athena walked upstairs to her room, and sat on the bed tiredly, despite the fact that she had just gotten up a few hours ago.  
“When you walk through a storm hold your head up high  
And don't be afraid of the dark.” She found herself singing softly. She seemed to always have an Elvis song in her song.  
However, she quickly stopped singing, and walked downstairs with Ralph in tow. She headed back out to the beach, and stood in front of the ocean.  
It bugged her how she felt like a failure all the time. She was angry that she was letting her fear get the best of her and she never felt the emotion of anger very often.   
_“You CANNOT be thinking about going in there again!"_ Ralph exclaimed, and Athena shook her head, placing the bear on the spot where she stood.  
“I’m not going to. I’m going to take small steps, Ralph. But I don’t want you getting wet, so wait here for me, okay?” she questioned.  
 _“Okay. Just stay safe.”___ Athena slowly made her way closer to the water, and then stood where she saw the waves slowly licking at the sand, and stood still.   
Her hair stood on end when the water fizzed and passed her feet, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for something horrible to happen.   
And then, the water pulled back out to the ocean, not pulling her with it.   
She opened her eyes and watched as the cool water receded, and then it came back up, lightly rushing around her ankles.  
She felt joy swell up in her stomach, and she turned around to look at Ralph.  
“I DID IT RALPH!” she exclaimed happily. “I did it! I-I’m not a failure. I can do this!”   
Athena didn’t have time to realize her feet weren’t touching the ground. She was knocked unconscious before she was able to realize she was floating.


	12. Chapter 12

Chpt.12  
When Athena woke up, she felt very warm. The warmth wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t the same warmth that the sun provided.   
She slowly blinked her eyes open and frowned at her surroundings. Nothing looked familiar to Mt. Justice.   
She was lying on a soft bed that was strewn with multiple pillows, and a warm thick blanket was lying on top of her.   
_What happened?_ She thought as she sat up. She felt a small stinging in her neck and brought her hand up. She winced at a small spot on her neck where it felt like a dart sunk into her skin.   
_Where am I?_ she slid out of her bed, and stood to her feet. The room was very extravagant, just like the bed, but at the same time it was empty. The bed had many warm autumn colors like dark brown, burgundy, deep orange, and tan. The walls were the same, and the fabric on the bed seemed to be soft silk and other types of expensive looking materials. And on the ceiling…  
“Is that a chandelier?” she questioned in a whisper. Athena’s eyes settled on the door, and she immediately made her way to it.   
She didn’t care where she was, she just wanted to get back home.   
Athena easily opened the door, and stepped out into a dark lit hallway. One of Mal’s Disney movies suddenly came to mind, and the halls reminded her almost of the castle in Beauty and the Beast. Dark and old, but still ornate.   
“You’re up earlier than expected.” Athena jumped in surprise at the voice. However, she didn’t come back down.   
She floated in the air, and started panicking.   
“W-what’s going on!?! What’s happening!?!” she questioned in a high voice, frantically kicking her legs, trying to get down.  
“You are flying, young one.” The voice that startled Athena stated calmly, and she felt a hand grab her foot, and pull her down.   
Athena was shaking and she looked up at the man who pulled her down. He had dark tan skin, black and white hair, and a black mustache. His grip was so strong on her shoulder that she couldn’t step further away from him.   
“Who are you?” Athena questioned timidly. The man slowly released his grip on the girl, and took a bow.   
“I am Ra’s Al Ghul.” He informed with a kind smile, but Athena still wasn’t very sure what to think of him. “And currently, you are in my home.”   
Athena fiddled with her hands nervously.   
“I noticed a dart mark on my neck.” She stated. “Did you knock me out, and take me here?” she questioned, and Ra’s nodded.   
“I wasn’t the one who personally knocked you out with the dart, but I did give the order.” Athena was grateful that her kidnapper was so cooperative when answering questions. All his answers seemed very sincere.   
“Why did you take me away from my home?” Athena inquired.   
“Perhaps we should talk in the dining hall. You must be hungry.” Ra’s said politely. He turned around, and started walking off to the dining hall, knowing that Athena would follow.   
She did, but when she reached her hand out to grasp his, she pulled it back. Athena had a gut feeling that he wasn’t someone she wanted to hold onto. Her heart ached slightly when she thought of the people whose hands she did want to hold at the moment.   
Conner, Dick, Cassie, Gar, Mal, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, M’gann, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Wolf, Robin, Batman.   
The names and faces flashed through her head and she immediately wanted to be back at Mt. Justice.   
She wanted to pet Wolf again. She wanted to watch Disney movies with Mal, and learn random Spanish from Blue Beetle. She wanted to hold Cassie’s hand and listen to music with her. She wanted to laugh at Gar’s jokes and learn about all the crazy animals he could turn into. She wanted to take up Aquaman’s offer to teach her how to swim. She wanted to hang out more with Wonder Woman and Black Canary. She wanted to cook with M’gann more. She wanted to follow Robin around and try to understand the random codes he used to hack into computers. She wanted to swing around on the trapeze again with Dick, and ride on his motorcycle. She wanted Batman to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She wanted Conner to just… give her a hug.   
Athena reached the dining hall with Ra’s. It was huge and seemed to match the same colors of the halls. Dark but decretive.   
“Please, have a seat.” Ra’s stated, pulling out a seat for the girl, and she sat, feeling that it might be disrespectful if she denied the man.   
He took the seat next to hers and a bald muscular man with a tight shirt and loose pants walked out and placed a plate of salad in front of Athena and Ra’s along with two glasses of deep red wine.  
“Excuse me?” Athena said in a small voice, looking at the strong bald man. “I’m sorry, but I think I’m not old enough for wine.” She informed, and Ra’s chuckled.   
“Ubu, can you please get our guest a glass of water?” he questioned, and with a bow, the man quickly went to do so.   
“Please, eat.” Ra’s smiled, and Athena looked down at the salad timidly, but looked up to see that Ra’s had taken a bite out of his salad. A shaky hand took a fork and she took a bite of a tomato and a piece of lettuce.   
“Thank you for the food.” Athena said with a small smile, but she felt like the smile was forced. She was truly frightened about what was going to happen to her.   
“I trust that it is to your liking?” he questioned, and Athena nodded.  
“Yes, Sir.”   
“You want to know why I took you here?” he added, and Athena nodded again.  
“Yes, Sir.” She felt so formal, but she felt like she needed to be due to the fancy meal, elaborate building, and the way Ra’s spoke.   
“I originally had my men take you so that I could bring you to Dr. Milo for you to be killed, and I could make a handsome amount of money.” He informed, and Athena felt her hair stand on end and immediately wanted to run and hide. Instead of doing either, she started to float off of the seat.   
Athena grabbed the seat to keep herself down, but she was shaking more now.  
“P-please. I can’t go back to Dr. Milo. I don’t want to die, Mr. Al Ghul. I haven’t done anything wrong.” She whispered frantically.   
“Settle down young one.” Ra’s said calmly. “I thought that I’d be giving Dr. Milo the failed project that he wanted to kill. However, you seem to not be such a failure now.” He stated as he looked at her hands that were tightly gripping her seat to keep her from floating to the ceiling.   
“You have _purpose_ , Project Power. I cannot give you over to be killed now that you have purpose.” He informed, and she flinched at the name.  
“Athena.” She whispered, and Ra’s raised an eyebrow.   
“Athena?” he questioned.   
“My name. It’s Athena. It’s not Project Power. It’s Athena.” She informed quickly. Ra’s smiled slightly.   
“A young Goddess.” He stated. “A Young Goddess the partial daughter to the Detective.” Athena didn’t know what he was talking about, however, she was too concerned about getting home.   
“Mr. Al Ghul?” she questioned. “Am I ever going to go back home?”   
“Back home? You never had a home. A home is a place where you can call it your own, and be completely safe.” He stated.   
“But…”  
“You will be staying here, to practice your abilities, since you obviously have no control over them.” Ra’s informed, and Athena shook her head.  
“Abilities? All I can do is float. And I don’t want to be here. I want to be home with Superboy, and Blue Beetle, and Nightwing, and Batman…”  
“Do you honestly think that any of them really cared for you?” he questioned calmly, despite how Athena was close to hysterics.   
“Of course they did! They are so nice! They care for me and keep me safe!” she exclaimed, and Ra’s cocked his brow up.   
“Like they kept you safe from me taking you?” he questioned.   
“They- they couldn’t help it! They were busy with a mission, saving people!” she exclaimed, standing from her seat, but having no idea where to go.   
“But if they really loved you, at least one of them would stay behind to watch you. Isn’t that right?” Ra’s questioned, his voice dripping with innocence, but behind it all, he knew that he was slowly getting to her.  
“It… they… it’s not their fault! They’re busy!” Athena sputtered.   
“Too busy for you? Someone they claim to love? You haven’t even met the rest of the league, have you? They have been too busy, right?”   
“They need to save the world. It’s not their fault.” She stated firmly, but it was in a whisper.   
“Not even a phone call from outer space. For people who apparently care for you, they seem to neglect you.” Ra’s said calmly, but Athena shook her head.   
“There is no neglect! They love me! It’s not their fault they’re busy! I’ve talked to them! Not all of them, but they care for me! I know they do!”   
Ra’s saw his opening.  
“They have talked to you, have they? Like how your bear talks to you? I think you do not understand that it is all in your head. You are mentally unhealthy, young goddess. None of them ever said they loved you. The entire time you spent with them, you have been completely alone.”   
“No!” Athena shouted. “They love me! They care for me! It’s not in my head! It’s not!”  
“Then why are you crying?” Athena brought her hand up to her face and felt her tears. She was silent then, as she quietly sobbed, sinking to the floor.   
Ra’s stood from his seat, bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“Come along, Young Goddess. You should rest.” Ra’s stated, but Athena didn’t move. “Or, you could stay here.” Ra’s nodded. “Whatever makes you _happy_.” He whispered. Ra’s walked out of the room, but he couldn’t hide the pleased smile on his face.   
It was a smile that someone would give when they made the right move in a chess game.  
But Athena saw it.


End file.
